Authority - English meaning

noun

Occupation of a position of dominant power or influence.

Usage examples:

The ascendancy of good over evil

noun

A position of power, strength, or success

Usage examples:

They are in danger of losing their political ascendancy (= controlling power)., supporters of the p…

verb

Demand (an amount) as a price for a service rendered or goods supplied.

Usage examples:

Wedding planners may charge an hourly fee of up to £150

noun

A price asked for goods or services.

Usage examples:

Our standard charge for a letter is £25

noun

An ambassador's deputy.

noun

A heavy blow with the hand or a hard object.

Usage examples:

A clout round the ear

verb

Short for clout nail.

noun

Power and influence over other people or events

Usage examples:

The small firms banded together so they would have more clout in washington.

verb

Give an authoritative or peremptory order.

Usage examples:

A gruff voice commanded us to enter

noun

An authoritative order.

Usage examples:

He obeyed her commands without question

verb

An authoritative direction or instruction to do something

noun

The power to influence or direct people's behaviour or the course of events.

Usage examples:

The whole operation is under the control of a production manager

verb

Determine the behaviour or supervise the running of.

Usage examples:

He was appointed to control the company's marketing strategy

verb

Power to direct or determine

noun

The quality of being trusted and believed in.

Usage examples:

The very public loss of credibility led to the demise of the magazine as a prestigious publication

noun

The fact that someone can be believed or trusted

Usage examples:

His arrest for lewd behaviour seriously damaged his credibility as a religious leader., he complain…

noun

The fact that someone or something can be believed or trusted

Usage examples:

He complained that we had tried to undermine his credibility within the company., lack credibility …

noun

Power and influence over others.

Usage examples:

The worldwide dominance of hollywood

noun

The quality of being more important, strong, or successful than anything else of the same type

Usage examples:

The party's dominance in scotland was being challenged for the first time., the dominance of the ca…

noun

The action of taking control of other people or animals in a forceful way, or the quality of liking to do this

Usage examples:

The new chairman appears to be trying to assert his dominance with a set of personnel changes., the…

noun

The exercise of power or influence over someone or something, or the state of being so controlled.

Usage examples:

The imperial domination of india

noun

The state of having control over people or a situation

Usage examples:

Her domination of the tennis world is undisputed.

noun

Power or control over other people or things

Usage examples:

The movie was about a group of robots set on world domination (= control of all countries).

noun

Sovereignty or control.

Usage examples:

Man's attempt to establish dominion over nature

noun

Control over a country or people, or the land that belongs to a ruler

Usage examples:

[ u ] the collapse of spain’s empire prepared the way for britain’s dominion over the seas.

noun

Control over a country or people

Usage examples:

Have dominion over god has dominion over (= controls) all his creatures., napoleon dreamed of achie…

noun

Fame or acknowledged superiority within a particular sphere.

Usage examples:

Her eminence in cinematography

noun

The state of being famous and important

Usage examples:

His eminence as a lawyer

noun

The state of being famous, respected, or important

Usage examples:

His eminence as a movie director

noun

Respect and admiration.

Usage examples:

He was held in high esteem by colleagues

verb

Respect and admire.

Usage examples:

Many of these qualities are esteemed by managers

noun

Respect for or a high opinion of someone

Usage examples:

We held them in high/low esteem (= we respected them a lot/very little).

noun

Seriousness and importance of manner, causing feelings of respect and trust in others

Usage examples:

He's an effective enough politician but somehow he lacks the statesmanlike gravitas of a world lead…

verb

Take and keep a firm hold of; grasp tightly.

Usage examples:

His knuckles were white as he gripped the steering wheel

noun

A firm hold; a tight grasp.

Usage examples:

His arm was held in a vice-like grip

verb

Hold fast or firmly

verb

Grasp, carry, or support with one's hands.

Usage examples:

She was holding a brown leather suitcase

noun

An act or manner of grasping something; a grip.

Usage examples:

He caught hold of her arm

noun

A large compartment or space in the lower part of a ship or aircraft in which cargo is stowed.

Usage examples:

Oversized baggage is placed in the hold of the plane

noun

A representation of the external form of a person or thing in art.

Usage examples:

Her work juxtaposed images from serious and popular art

verb

Make a representation of the external form of.

Usage examples:

Artworks which imaged women's bodies

noun

An idea, esp. a mental picture, of what something or someone is like

Usage examples:

I had an image of texas in my head that was totally different from how it really is., he’s trying t…

noun

The capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behaviour of someone or something, or the effect itself.

Usage examples:

The influence of television violence

verb

Have an influence on.

Usage examples:

Government regulations can influence behaviour, but often without changing underlying values and mo…

verb

A power to affect persons or events

noun

The official power to make legal decisions and judgements.

Usage examples:

The english court had no jurisdiction over the defendants

noun

The official authority to make (esp. legal) decisions and judgments

Usage examples:

The supreme court ruled that the us government had no jurisdiction over crimes committed on indian …

noun

The authority that a particular court of law or official organization has to make laws, rules, or legal decisions

Usage examples:

A law passed in 2006 sought to strip the federal courts of jurisdiction to consider the detainees' …

noun

Praise and honour received for an achievement.

Usage examples:

She was looking for kudos rather than profit

noun

Praise, admiration, and fame received for an achievement

Usage examples:

Women’s organizations have been getting kudos for their service activities.

noun

The public admiration that a person receives as a result of a particular achievement or position in society

Usage examples:

Being an actor has a certain amount of kudos attached to it.

noun

The exertion of force by means of a lever.

Usage examples:

My spade hit something solid that wouldn't respond to leverage

verb

Use borrowed capital for (an investment), expecting the profits made to be greater than the interest payable.

Usage examples:

Without clear legal title to their assets, they own property that cannot be leveraged as collateral…

noun

The power to influence results

Usage examples:

Financial/political leverage, the us has very little leverage in that part of the world., they can …

noun

Comprehensive knowledge or skill in a particular subject or activity.

Usage examples:

She played with some mastery

noun

Great skill in a particular job or activity

Usage examples:

Louis armstrong’s mastery of the trumpet is legendary., only a singer of fitzgerald's mastery could…

noun

Complete control of something

Usage examples:

Her mastery of the situation

noun

A band or bundle of fibrous tissue in a human or animal body that has the ability to contract, producing movement in or maintaining the position of parts of the body.

Usage examples:

The calf muscle

verb

Move (an object) in a particular direction by using one's physical strength.

Usage examples:

They were muscling baggage into the hold of the plane

noun

A mass of tissue in the body, often attached to bones, that can tighten and relax to produce movement

Usage examples:

[ u ] republicans are flexing some political muscle., [ t ] starks muscled his way to the basket., …

noun

The officials in an organization or government department, considered as a group.

Usage examples:

His many encounters with officialdom and bureaucracy

noun

Used to refer to people who have a position of authority, especially in a government, usually when they are preventing you from doing what you want to do, or are slow or not effective

Usage examples:

They accused regulatory officialdom of hampering their business by imposing too many petty conditio…

noun

A person holding public office or having official duties, especially as a representative of an organization or government department.

Usage examples:

A union official

adjective

Relating to an authority or public body and its activities and responsibilities.

Usage examples:

The prime minister's official engagements

noun

A person who has a position of responsibility in an organization

Usage examples:

A senior official, an official announcement, the name of the new director will be officially announ…

noun

A place where someone or something is located or has been put.

Usage examples:

The distress call had given the ship's position

verb

Put or arrange (someone or something) in a particular place or way.

Usage examples:

He pulled out a chair and positioned it between them

noun

The ability or capacity to do something or act in a particular way.

Usage examples:

The power of speech

verb

Supply (a device) with mechanical or electrical energy.

Usage examples:

The car is powered by a fuel-injected 3.0-litre engine

noun

The ability or right to control people and events, or to influence the way people act or think in important ways

Usage examples:

The election results showed that the democrats had lost power, with republicans taking over five mo…

noun

Widespread respect and admiration felt for someone or something on the basis of a perception of their achievements or quality.

Usage examples:

The firm has recently gained considerable prestige

noun

Respect and admiration given to someone or something, usually because of a reputation for high quality, success, or social influence

Usage examples:

No one would go into this sort of work for the prestige., a prestigious school

noun

Respect or admiration that is given to someone or something, usually because of the reputation that they have for high quality, success, or social influence

Usage examples:

The company has gained international prestige in recent years., the prestige of working for a top w…

verb

Exert force on (someone or something) so as to cause movement towards oneself.

Usage examples:

He pulled them down on to the couch

noun

An act of pulling something.

Usage examples:

Give the hair a quick pull and it comes out by the roots

verb

Apply force so as to cause motion towards the source of the motion

noun

A position in the hierarchy of the armed forces.

Usage examples:

An army officer of high rank

verb

Give (someone or something) a rank or place within a grading system.

Usage examples:

Students ranked the samples in order of preference

adjective

(of vegetation) growing too thickly and coarsely.

Usage examples:

Clumps of rank grass

noun

The beliefs or opinions that are generally held about someone or something.

Usage examples:

His reputation was tarnished by allegations of bribery

noun

One of a set of explicit or understood regulations or principles governing conduct or procedure within a particular area of activity.

Usage examples:

The rules of cricket

verb

Short for australian rules.

noun

An accepted principle or instruction that states the way things are or should be done, and tells you what you are allowed or are not allowed to do

Usage examples:

The company's chief executive failed to enforce federal workplace rules., if you broke the rule, yo…

noun

Supreme power or authority.

Usage examples:

The sovereignty of parliament

noun

The power or authority to rule

noun

Position, status, or reputation.

Usage examples:

Their standing in the community

adjective

(of a jump or a start in a running race) performed from rest or an upright position, without a run-up or the use of starting blocks.

Usage examples:

I took a standing jump

verb

Have or maintain an upright position, supported by one's feet.

Usage examples:

Lionel stood in the doorway

noun

A place on a railway line where trains regularly stop so that passengers can get on or off.

Usage examples:

We walked back to the station and caught the train back to brussels

verb

Short for stations of the cross.

noun

A building or buildings and the surrounding area where a particular service or activity takes place

Usage examples:

A train/bus station, a gas station, a police/fire station, at our house in the mountains we only ge…

noun

A person's natural height.

Usage examples:

A man of short stature

noun

Relative social or professional position; standing.

Usage examples:

An improvement in the status of women

noun

The state of being superior.

Usage examples:

An attempt to establish superiority over others

noun

The state or condition of being superior to all others in authority, power, or status.

Usage examples:

The supremacy of the king

noun

The highest authority or greatest power

Usage examples:

He approved the supremacy of a strong federal government over the demands of states.

verb

Move or cause to move slowly or rhythmically backwards and forwards or from side to side.

Usage examples:

He swayed slightly on his feet

noun

A rhythmical movement from side to side.

Usage examples:

The easy sway of her hips

verb

Move back and forth

noun

Each of a set of hard, bony enamel-coated structures in the jaws of most vertebrates, used for biting and chewing.

Usage examples:

He clenched his teeth

plural noun

Pl of tooth

Usage examples:

This committee can make recommendations but it has no real teeth to enforce them.

noun

The us government department that is responsible for making rules relating to airports and aircraft

Usage examples:

Under the new proposals, the federal aviation administration would be able to impose "additional se…

noun

The officials, employees, and people who run government departments and offices, or similar officers and employees who manage the details of operating a large business

Usage examples:

[ c ] the city’s bureaucracy is almost unmanageable., [ u ] the president wants to add more bureauc…

noun

A system for controlling or managing a country, company, or organization that is operated by officials who are employed to follow rules carefully

Usage examples:

A government/state/federal bureaucracy these regulations have no benefit except to support a large …

noun

The people who have most of the power within government or society or in a particular business or activity

Usage examples:

The diplomatic/educational/literary establishment, visitors come to shop in the fashionable new est…

noun

A business or other organization, or the place where an organization operates

Usage examples:

An educational/training/religious establishment, what percent of your establishment's total sales a…

noun

The offices, departments, and groups of people that control a country, state, city, or other political unit

Usage examples:

[ u ] she works for the government., [ c ] the new tax law affects the budgets of both state and lo…

noun

An organization that officially manages and controls a country or region, creating laws, collecting taxes, providing public services, etc.

Usage examples:

The two governments have signed an agreement., this fiscal year would mark the third government sur…

noun

A way of referring to newspapers, television programmes, etc. that discuss and criticize the clothes that famous people wear; a way of referring to people in general who criticize the clothes that people wear

Usage examples:

The fashion police were divided on whether her dress looked "spectacular" or "disastrous"., don't w…

phrase

The authorities.

Usage examples:

The powers that be are assessing the situation

idiom

Important people who have authority over others

Usage examples:

It's up to the powers that be to decide what should be done next.

noun

A system for measuring the skills needed for a particular job and someone's level of performance in that job

noun

If you have the upper hand, you have more power than anyone else and so have control

Usage examples:

After hours of fierce negotiations, the president gained/got/had the upper hand.

noun

A body's relative mass or the quantity of matter contained by it, giving rise to a downward force; the heaviness of a person or thing.

Usage examples:

He was at least fifteen stone in weight

verb

Hold (something) down by placing a heavy object on top of it.

Usage examples:

A mug half filled with coffee weighted down a stack of papers